Automobile reverse-control mechanism



1 June 24,1931)" c. L. DREW 1,766,114

Y AUTOMOBILE REVERSE CONTROL MECHANISM Filed May 21, 1929 IN VEN TOR.

Fatentetl dime 24,1930

rrn]

V I cn i zroivnfnnntv, ons in rnnnoi sco, oiimronnrn horror renninnnvnnsn-eo v'i'non MECHANISM a n'a nbiifiiea'r a m, 1929. Serial ii eegss This invention relates toimprovements in -2lLltOIl10bllQ reversecontrol mechanisms.

The principal object of this invention to provide means for preventinganautomo- 5 bile or the like road vehicle from moving in 3 pleandeneWhichniaybe attachedto anv" 'jautomobile ,novv-"upongthe market Without'n'iaterially samewmwf fr i v A A further object i sfto produce a deviceof 15 this. character which will be silent in operation and positiveinits action p I A still further object is to l'jrovide means whereby thedevice may betliroWn out of "operation when it is desiredfto move rearWardly. i f

Astill further object isto provide. means whereby the locking,mechanjism Will, not function until the'car comes ilOl'GSl), thuspermitting rearward movement even after the gear shift lever. has-beenmoved from reverse positionto neutral-position.

Other bjectsandgadvantages Will be ap-v parentfiduring the course of the1 following description. I V c In" the "acceinpa'nying drawings forminga part of this specification,.andin which like 1 numerals are. employedto designate like lparts throughout the same," I

Figure 1 is a frontvie'wof my device,

order to thereof. Y. v t Figure 2 is a side elevationof the lockingratchet. w i

forward direction. It thereforeoften ha'ppens that a car stopping upongrade Wlll start rolling reaiwardl'yandsoon get out of control WltlitllBresult that serious accidents 50 occur.

v grad-e. .aitering the construction of the,

having thefaceof thehousing removed, in;

expose, the inter or v 1nechan1s1n Figure 3 is fragmentary detail view.

t' also is that is stopped upon grade, in order to again start for-Ward, it isnecessary to hold. onefoot "upon the brake pedal and theotherupon the clutch pedal, and ingettingawayit is then necessary toremove the f ot from thehclutchp.

pedal slightly in advance of the foot upon the brake pedal. This meansthat the engine must overcome some of. the retarding action uponthe footbrake, as Well as the i ,I have therefore devised a simple mecha nism'Which may be interposed at ranypeint Y between the transmission and therear heels, lneh device Wlll automatically prevent :the

car 'from moving. in a retrograde direction except When it isdesired toso move the"automobile. This'inechamsm comprises a simple locking devicewhich permits free movement n a forward directionand pos tively locksthe driving mechanism to the frame of the car when the parts move in aretrograde direction. V 4 Applicant aware of the fact that reverselocking 111QCl12tI1'1SI11S -hLVQ been employedfor automobile use, but,so far as applicant-can learn, these mechanisms have failed for severalreasons 3 Q First, Whenanover running. clutch is em- I ployed, thereverse action, brings into play rollers riding upon"a-'cam.- InthisCase, "the crushing effect upon the' rolle'rs is tremendous, Whichcrushing effect fcauses the fdek vice "to breakdown and to j am.Moreover, 'With thisft'ype of device, it isjimpossibleto drive against acurb. or a building and then back away, as it is necessary to moveforwardly a few inches to permit the locking mechanism, to release.v In1 other words, if the'operator moves'up to a curb,- so that the tirescause the vehicle to move backvvardly lfroi'nthe curb again beforecoming to full rest, the reversemechanism Willlock'andit is thenimpossible to move .backwardly away I from the curb, and thisea-n'only-Qbe ,accom plish'ed'by running up on to. the curb (which 1condition is impossible if the vehicle happensto be against a highcurb,abuilding I or abutting the Wallof agarage) and throw "ingth'e reverselever'into action; 1 1

ten:

I ith my device, the reverse lock can be unlocked at anytime,irrespective of the position ofv tlievehicle, andfurther, applicant hasprovided means whereby the reverse"- locking mechanism will not,actuate, should the operatorof'the V QlIIClBbQ moving rearl Wardlyinreverseposition and movelhis redie, 7 v

Y Y would resultin the mmediate locking of the" verse lever to neutralposition'before the ve-- hicle'has come to rest; V I II I r WVithothertypes'of locks, this condition rearward motion ofthe vehicle, wl iicl1would placegtremendous looking mecl1anismand II vehicle affectedthereby. With my device,

strain upon the the parts .of' the thelockingjratchet will not dropuntil the car has come'to rest, thus preventing any,

I the parts .of the vehiclef. s

f for" the purpose of'illustration, is shown a serious strain being.placedupoi 'any of In the accompanying drawings, wherein preferredembodiment offiny' invention, the numeral 5-designates a casing,whichmay vbe the housing of tllQlZIiLIlSIIllSSlOIl, the dif- "housing, thepurpose ofwvhich is to sur- .round a'rotating gear 6. This gearIS'kGYGCl ferential gearing housing or an independent 7: or otherwisesecured to the shaft 7 which,

for the purpose iof v discussion, wewill consider is the propeller shaftof 'a moto'r'vehicle. The directionofrotation of the gear '6,' when "thevehicle is moving in a forward direction is indicated bythe arrow a.

Pivoted, as at 8, is a locking ratchet '9, I which has a nose 11,-adapted to engage the surface ,of one of the teeth of the gear 6.

, The distance between the pivot 8 and the "nose 11 is suchthat the arcIr -Z) coincides with the face "of thetoothagainst which the nose llcontacts. 4 i I a The free end of this lockingratchet hasforined'thereon wings 12, the under side of the wings forming a CtlIl,13, the purpose of V which will be: later seen; In order to manuallyactuate the locking ratchet, I provide a I pul'l'rod 14, whichis-connected in any convenient manner to-the reverse mechanism ofthevehicle. 'An, arm. 16 is formed upon thearm 16/127 7 r ln -Figu're'g3, the construction and mode gthe ratchet 9, having pivoted thereto flanauxiliary'arm '17, which is'pro'vided with a lug-'18 adapted to engageailug '19 upon of operation is, substantially the same, the

only' difference"being that the ratchet 21 is slidable'in guides 22 and23'and is actuated I through the medium of an ,electromagnet 24hTlie'correspondingparts are given the same uimerals in both views.

The manner of operation is, as 5 :follows:

or in a differential mechanism, rotation of thefgear 6 iiiacounter-clockwise direction, as indicated by the arrow a, 'will causethe} grease to becarried upwardly againstthe; under surface of thewings-l2 and holdthe locking ratchet in the dotted line position of thisfigure.

T he cam surface 13 will serve to give the I latch its initialupwardjmoveinent through This contacting willalsocause ajclicking ent,the device is absolutely noiseless, as there isno physical contactbetween the gear. and

the locking ratchet while the gear is mov-:- ing. When the car comes torest the lock-V 7 ing ratchet will drop and the nose 11 will engage oneof the teeth of-the gear.

As there is a straight linedrawjfrom the 7 face of the'nose to the pivot8 and asithis beiiig contacted by theteeth of the gearp I noise, shouldthe grease within the mech- I anism become exhausted," and willther'efore 1 act as a warning to place grease-in the trans'-;

mission 1 However, when the grease is presstraight line draw is at rightangles ,to the face of the tooth, it, will'be apparent that? if thevehicleis iiiilocked condition upon I liilland considerable retrogradeforce tending to turn the gear 6 in, aclockewisei direction, the samecannot take place untilthe locking ratchetQ is actuated by the rod 14:,which in turn is actuated by the "reverse lev f th jyehicle. Thisunlockinglcan 7 take place 'very greadily, evenunder this:

pressure, as the noserll may be slid-over the face of the tooth of'tl egear with comg;

paratively little effortpthus unlocking the; vehicle and permitting itto move. in a reverse direction. r l I As soon as the gearG commences tomove in a reverse direction, theauxiliaryarin 17 will moveto the dottedlineposition, as thej grease following the gear in'thi'sflclock-wisedirection will contact the auxiliary arm 17 i 7 moving it until the 'lug18 .abuts,;the" lug 1.9, which will causethe arm 16 to hold -the lockingratchet in elevatedl'positioniand will not again permit theratchet tofunctionl until the gear has come 7 to rest.

It is Off-Course er d that at: aux-1 iliary arm is" not the'mediuin bywhichrthe ratchet is held elevated during the entire reverse movement;the rod 14 serves-that purpose,the auxiliary arm merely serving,

to inaintain the ratchet elevatedduring. that period, after which theoperator releases the car fromreverse gear untilthe car has I come torest. I claim;

1. A locking device forpreventingretrov v V 3125' a rotatinglelement, ofa gravity actuated latch adapted to engage the rotating ele-r 'ment, andfluid actuating means for-holding grademovement of a motor vehicle,having said latch in suspendedposition' out of contact with saidrotating element' wheii'csaid rotating element is rotating in onedirection only. I a

2. Alo'cli'ing device for preventing. retrograde movement of amotor-[vehicle and including a rotating elemeiitrotatiiig in agreasebath,a latching element adapted to engage said rotating element,means foimoving said latching element out of engagerotating element. r

mentwith said rotating element when said rotating elemeiit is movingi'nlon'c direction only, said means COIIIPIlSlHg a contacting surfaceadapted to be impinged by grease:

thrown off by the centrifugal action of said Alocking deviceforpreventingretrograde movement of a motor vehicle and including arotating element rotating in a grease bath, projections formed thereon,

said rotating element.

eluding a rotating element frotating ,in a

grease bath and having projections formed thereon, said devicecomprising a latching element having a nose adapted to engage theprojections on said rotatingelement, and

Wings formed on said latching element whereby said latcliingj element isheld in. suspended position out'of engagement with said rotating elementthrough the action of grease thrown by centrifugal force; fromsaidrotating element :When said rotating element moves in one directiononly.

5. A locking devicevfor preventing 16l3I0- grade movement of a'inotor,VGhIClG'l-Ild inv eluding a rotating element revolvingin a greasebathandihaving projections formed thereon a'latching element having a nosethereon, said nose engaging the projections of said rotating elementWherebyretrogi'ade.

movement of said rotating element is prevented,mea-ns carried on saidlatching elemerit for raising said latching element out of .contact withsaid rotating element'vvhen said rotating element is moved in onedire'ce tion, said means compris ng a surface formed on said latch ngvelement and adapted to be contacted by grease moved there-against bythe action of said rotating element. 7

6. A locking devicefor preventing retrograde movement of amotorivehicleand including a rotatinghelement revolving in a .greasebathand adapted to norrnally' rotate in one vdirectioiiya gravity actuatedelement I comprisinga pivoted member having a nose y tormed thereonengaging said revolving ele T ment to prevent retrograde movement there?of, and "a contacting surface formed on said gravity 'la'tch whereby therotation of said revolving element 'Wlll causethe greaseto v contactsaid surface and maintain said latch V 1 out ofengagement withthe'rotat'ing elenieiiti during rotation thereof in one direction only.i

7. A'lockingdevice for preventing retro grade movement of a motorvehicle and-ineluding a rotating element normally revolv .ing in onedirection in a grease bath, gravity actuated element comprising a].

pivoted member having ano'seformed thereon engaging-with saidrotatingelement to prevent retrograde movement thereof, and a contacting surfaceformed on said gravity .latch whereby the rotation of said revolvingelement forces the grease to contact said sur-f face and maintain saidlatch out of engagement with sa d. rotating elementsduringrotationthereof'in one direction onlyyand meansfor manually moving saidlatch out of engagement with said rotatingelement;

8. A locking device for preventing retro grade movement of a motorvehicle and ineluding a rotating. element normally revolv- ,mg in one drection in a grease bath, a

gravity actuated element comprising .a

pivoted member'having a nose formed there I on, engagingwitli saidrotating elementto I prevent retrograde movement thereof, a contactingsurfacefoi'ined on said gravity latch herebythe rotation. of saidrevolving ele; v

ment in itshath' Will cause the grease to con tact said surface andmaintain said latch out of engagement with the rotating element duringrotation thereof in one'direction only, ineansflfor. manually movingsaid latch out of engagement With said rotating element i and greaseactuatedmeans carried by said- .latch forholdingsaid latch out ofengage: ment With sa d revolvingelement While said rotating element ismoving in a retrogradedirection. V

9. Alock ng device'for preventing retrograde movement of afinotorvehicle'and in-- eluding a rotatingelement normally I'Ollillk,

ing in one direction and revolvingin a grease bath, a gravity actuatedelement comprising a p voted member having a nose formed thereon,engaging Withsaid rotating element to preventretrograde movementthereof, a contacting surface formed onsaid gravity latch Wherebytherotation'of said rotating element in its bath will cause the f grease tocontact said surface and maintain said latch out of engagement with therotating element during rotation thereof in V one direction only, meansfor manually mov 7 ing said latch out ofengagen ent with said rotatingelement, and grease actuatedmeans;

carried by said latch forholding. said latch out of engagement. Withsaid rotating e1e- 1 HIQILt while said rotating elementis moving in" aretrograde; direction, said means comprising an arm formed on said latch"and an auxiliary arm pivoted. thereto "in the man I ner and for thepurpose described. a

*10. In combinationwith'a rotating apart of afmotor-vehicleofa fluidcontrolled mechanism", associated: With the rotating part, forpreventing retrograde movement, of the motor vehiele, and anauxiliarymeans 'carried by said mechanism for maintaining said mechanis'm'inoperative after said 7 rotating part has been icausedjto move'in aretro-v; grade direction. 1 V a v f In testimony'whereof I afiix mysignature.

' CLAYTON 7 DREW.

